These Romans are crazy. Sunday night's Rome derby has become headline fodder across Europe for all the wrong reasons, as essentially the first football match ever halted by a game of Chinese whispers.

The sport that ploughed merrily on in the face of 9/11, the Madrid bombings and even the 39 dead at Heysel, ground to a halt this time thanks to talk that police had killed a young fan outside the ground, a rumour that was as false as it was fast-spreading. Two days later, more and more people are convinced it was a premeditated move.

"I don't understand why we didn't continue the match," says Lazio's president Ugo Longo. "The stadium was calm, the police had given the all clear."

"I told the referee to continue" confirms Rome's chief constable, Achille Serra. "But the players didn't want to. Then (League president) Galliani called from Milan, and convinced the ref to call the game off."

And here's government minister Roberto Maroni: "It's incredible that Galliani, a gentleman 600 kilometres away, took this decision without even speaking to the chief of police - who was standing next to the referee. Either everyone's gone crazy, or someone's up to something..."

Before we delve into what that something might be, let's savour for a moment the surreal scene at the Olimpico, one minute into the second half. Francesco Totti, arguably Italian football's most important player, is beckoned to by three shady-looking types who have materialised behind one of the goals. They are capo-tifosi, leaders of the hardcore support, and the Roma captain walks obediently over to hear what they have to say.

"Francé, go and stop the game" one tells him. "The police have killed a boy, the match must not continue."

"But they've just said on the tannoy that the rumour isn't true," replies a worried looking Totti.

"Not true? I saw it happen myself," interjects another. "The parents of the boy called us from their home. Now go and tell the others not to play," insists a third. Totti looks down and nods, then heads back onto the pitch. "If we play, these guys will massacre us!" he tells his manager, Fabio Capello.

Until that point, the only disruption had been three flares thrown on the pitch. Afterwards, all hell broke loose. Lazio and Roma fans came together outside the ground to attack the police and carabinieri in battles that continued until 1am the next morning, and left over 150 officers injured.

"Three elements make me think this was planned in advance," says police chief Serra; "We noticed strange manoeuvres among the fans at both ends of the stadium at half-time. Then, before the flares were thrown, all the flags and banners were withdrawn simultaneously from both ends. Third, these supporters saying they'd talked to the family of the non-existent victim."

Yup, something doesn't add up, and for once it's not Roma's accounts. Roberto Maroni meanwhile is looking at an even bigger picture: "I believe that this is an attempt to damage the government, connected to our battle over the football clubs' unpaid taxes," thunders the minister for welfare.

Given that the League president Galliani - the man who called off the match - is also Silvio Berlusconi's right-hand man at AC Milan, and given that Milan are Roma's rivals at the top, the conspiracy theories are set to multiply. However, what will strike observers abroad even more about this story is the ease with which the supporters were able to act.

Police have now arrested the three men who 'advised' Totti on Sunday, but it's an unusual precedent in a country where ultras usually act with impunity. In February of last year, for example, Milan's game at Torino was suspended after Torino fans were left undisturbed to riot on the edge of the pitch, while in November 2002, a Cagliari supporter ran on to the pitch and punched the visiting team's unsuspecting goalkeeper.

And this weekend there were two other major incidents besides the derby debacle: at Modena, irate fans broke into the dressing room after the final whistle after their 2-1 home loss to Reggina (manager Alberto Malesani was subsequently sacked), while in the Second Division, former Manchester United keeper Massimo Taibi was struck on the leg by a rock thrown at his team bus, prior to Atalanta's 3-1 loss at Messina.

So there you have it. The police continue their investigation, and the League have confirmed the Rome derby will be replayed, probably in April, and possibly behind closed doors. Next weekend, fans permitting, we'll be getting back to the football, with the latest on Milan's astonishing run at the top, and Perugia's late-late-comeback bid (they won at Lecce, they're five points off safety!).